Title
Creation Date
2016
Preview
Medium
watercolor and colored pencil on paper
Description
Dimensions: 11 x 9 inches
Rights
© Elizabeth Lee Parkinson, 2016.
Keywords
children, book, illustrations, family, donation, surrogacy
2016
watercolor and colored pencil on paper
Dimensions: 11 x 9 inches
© Elizabeth Lee Parkinson, 2016.
children, book, illustrations, family, donation, surrogacy
Artist Statement
This body of work is a selection of five illustrations from a larger children’s book project. The book, Building My Family: A Story of Egg Donation and Surrogacy, is a story about a child who was born into his family with the aid of an egg donor and a surrogate gestational carrier. The children’s book was created as an educational, therapeutic, and entertainment tool for children of families that were created using reproductive therapies.
My watercolor paintings are colorful, bright, and depict clear and relatable scenes from the life of a young American family. It was important to the book project that these illustrations be realistic and in some cases anatomically or scientifically correct. The paintings employ a level of naturalism and detail that make the story seem personal and believable.
These illustrations, and the book they were created for have a larger and noble purpose—helping families. As an illustrator, I am drawn to projects that educate, spread awareness, and promote inclusiveness and open-mindedness. I believe that art and illustration can still have a powerful positive impact on people and shape their ideas.